Crimson Banners Fly: The Rise of the American Left

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Hey all! Quick irl update.
I'll be away on a short trip next week through the weekend, so I may only have the chance to write-up one page between now and July 4th.
After that we'll return to the weekly updates.

Hope everyone is having a great summer so far :)
I hope you enjoy your trip! And don't push yourself to write an update if you will be too busy, we'll still be here when you get back.
 
Hey all! Quick irl update.
I'll be away on a short trip next week through the weekend, so I may only have the chance to write-up one page between now and July 4th.
After that we'll return to the weekly updates.

Hope everyone is having a great summer so far :)
Please take your time as long as you can!
 
I hope you enjoy your trip! And don't push yourself to write an update if you will be too busy, we'll still be here when you get back.
Please take your time as long as you can!
No problem take as much time as needed. RL gets in the way sometimes. This TL is nothing short of amazing! :)
Take your time. This is a fantastic work but IRL comes first!

Thanks everyone for the kind comments! It's always much appreciated!
 
Part 7: Chapter XXVII - Page 182 - 1920 RNC I
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The Republican National Convention, June 8th, 1920 - Source: Smithsonian

On June 8th, 1920, swathes of elder statesmen, political observants, and representatives from all over took part in the opening day rituals of the Republican National Convention. Its venue: William McKinley Hall on Lakeside Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio - an all-new facility appropriately named in honor of the recently deceased, multi-term governor and prominent party chairman. Portraits and works of art featuring the late McKinley and other beloved Republican icons adorned the halls of the auditorium, setting the stage for an event intent on reminding Americans of the tranquil nineteenth-century under Republican rule. "Tradition was king," explained Jay Morgan. "If Brumbaugh were to succeed in accomplishing the impossible, he believed it best to display throughout the Republican Convention constant reminders of a bygone age. Banners with the likenesses of Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses Grant waved high in the main hall as if to say, "This is what you've abandoned." It was very much like stepping back in time. Brumbaugh specifically excluded all reminders of the last twenty years."

Four years prior to the 1920 RNC, Republicans emphatically rejected an opportunity offered by pro-fusion George W. Perkins to nominate Theodore Roosevelt for president. Delegates chose the long-shot candidacy of Senator John Weeks in a campaign ripe for absolute disaster. With much of the conservative faction humbled and the old Atlanticist faction now irrelevant, Brumbaugh's prospects appeared rosier than Perkins' ever did. It was hard to ignore the slow burn of the Republican Party in the last several cycles. The GOP was mired in an ever-deepening crisis, and now more than ever it seemed excruciatingly unlikely that the standpat conservatives could regain their momentum from the Progressive alternative. Former President Depew, age 86, penned his growing concern for the party in a letter to Henry Cabot Lodge, writing, "If peace cannot be made in Cleveland, the Reds will win at the ballot box. America as we know it will cease to exist." Though a respected figure and among the most influential in the game, Depew alone was not enough to convince the Republican delegation. The convention congregation and the huge pool of delegates, most clad in fitted dress coats and freshly ironed ties, were not the sort to leap at the idea of a unity resolution.

Secretary Lodge and William Stephens, on behalf of President Johnson, personally took part in the RNC and brought with them hundreds of other Columbian politicos as per Brumbaugh's offer. The former Massachusetts senator, perhaps the perfect arbitrator for the circumstances, was equally admired in both Progressive and Republican circles for his decades-long service to the U.S. government. He was heavily involved in the affairs of presidential nominations since his tide-twisting remarks at the 1900 Republican convention, which proved to sink Mark Hanna's hopes of locking down the nomination. This, of course, led to the emergence of Albert Beveridge as that year's compromise nominee. Indeed, Lodge's actions helped pave the way for the last elected Republican president as well as the downfall of William Jennings Bryan. Back in 1900, Lodge learned from Beveridge the unbelievable potency of patriotism as an organizing force. Roosevelt and Johnson found themselves educated on that matter too, each having extensively retooled American nationalism for their own ends. Lodge looked to harness that same power to bring together disparate factions here in 1920.

The state secretary was allotted adequate time to speak to the men and women of the convention, and speak he did. "We are met here to take the first, the most decisive step in the political campaign which is to determine the future of this great government for the next four years. It is a solemn moment, fraught with vast possibilities of either good or evil. The tempest of war has subsided, but the ocean still heaves and rolls with cresting waves. One passion, one purpose - to save the country, to save civilization, to preserve freedom - rose supreme. It could not be otherwise." To Lodge, the end of one war drifted straight to a new one. He framed the plea to rejoin into a single party as one essential to the survival of the nation. "We can only steady the ship of state by once and for all condemning Bolshevism and making our appeal for support to all who love America. It is the path of Washington, of Lincoln, of Beveridge and of Roosevelt from which the Socialists seek to drag us. Their defeat transcends in importance every other question. Without that defeat, every chance of the right settlement of the mighty questions before us, so sorely needed now and not later, will depart." Lodge's speech was met with ravenous applause.

The above argument from Henry Cabot Lodge did not in and of itself dispel all partisan bickering and guarantee passage of the unity resolution, but it did bring to the forefront an immense advantage thus far provided to the far-left. Party division was costly beyond comprehension (ie; Chicago). Dozens more speakers came and went following the stirring address by the incumbent secretary of state, including a rousing, uplifting twenty minutes from Senator Elihu Root. Two of President Roosevelt's children, New York Assembly candidate Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., and Second Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt, eulogized their father and saluted, "the defense of America by patriots at home, and on the frontlines." Successive addresses from high-ranking officers, generals, and admirals in the U.S. Armed Forces rounded out the day. Admiral Austin Knight, now retired, stated that although he did not affiliate himself politically with any major party, he had no qualms in endorsing Hiram Johnson for a full presidential term. Only a continuation of the Progressive Party policies regarding military spending and diplomacy would keep the United States safe, in Knight's words. Major General Fox Conner remarked much the same.

The time was nigh for the convention delegation to make a choice. Lodge's drafted resolution, sponsored by Chairman Brumbaugh, was up for a vote. Some conservatives, angered by the incessant fawning over Theodore Roosevelt by the moderate lineup of speakers, attempted to sway a majority of delegates to vote against the measure, yet time was running short and the votes were coming in fast. Brumbaugh waited nervously as the votes slugged in, knowing his political fate counted on passage. At last, the count was complete, and with well over two-thirds in favor, the Lodge Resolution passed. Thenceforth, the Republican Party formally proclaimed itself allied with disaffected Progressives in the joint pursuit of stamping out the scourge of American Bolshevism. It welcomed cooperation betwixt GOP and Columbian regional offices, and heavily implied the need to double-down on fusion tactics to avoid further electoral embarrassment. It did not, however, admit Progressive delegates to the RNC, nor did the resolution mention anything pertaining to amending the rather conservative party platform with input by Columbian officeholders and state leaders. Their olive branch called for a reunion of resources, not a reunion of ideas. "It was a victory for Hiram Johnson," wrote William Ackerman, "not the Progressive Program."

A brawl for the presidential nomination still lied ahead, that much was certain, though the passage of the unity resolution granted a monumental advantage for Lodge and Stephens. Not only had the delegation approved a sweeping pledge to promote electoral fusion at all levels, but the Johnson Campaign obtained a plurality of bound delegates through months of vigorous, state-to-state campaigning and fared well in the primaries to boot. In the Republican arena, Johnson's greatest foe of note was Senator Warren Harding. Harding, the GOP Conference Chairman in the Senate and a darling star of conservatism, directed a restrained fight for the presidency from his home in Marion, Ohio, running even with Johnson on the primary stage but otherwise failing to make his mark. He based his campaign on optimistic messaging and promises to return to isolation, peace, and prosperity; diligently keeping the language vague to attract general audiences. On the eve of the RNC, The New York Times hypothesized if, "Harding would announce his withdrawal," seeing as, "there is no sign he is getting anywhere." Harding easily won over the Ohio delegates following a unanimous vote by the legislature to endorse the senator, but such luck was not replicated elsewhere. To win, or even come close, he needed a minimum of two ballot calls. With two-thirds in favor of the Lodge Resolution, the Ohioan's goose was cooked.
 
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Poor Harding. Or perhaps one should say lucky Harding, he'll die with considerably less of a blemish on his record if just a Senator. Well, this is going to interesting, the Roosevelt love will probably push conservatives away, but the association with the Republicans will cost a pretty few Progressive votes. As I say, I can't wait for election day.
 
I actually see this having two potential effects regarding culture and development:
1- A more lefitst Walt Disney. Despite Disney being a rather right-winged political figure, his father was part of the Socialist Party, and its higher popularity could help. Additionally, if he still attempted to join the war effort, it would definitely embitter him toward the patriotic fervor like the other young men like him.

2- On the other hand, if he fails to get him, then we have him going other venues. One idea could be he works under L. Frank Baum for a while. This would fit his Americana fantasy style, while also changing the course of his life. Namely, that he would likely focus on adaptations of American fairy tales, works like that of Baum and Edgar Rice Bourroughs.
I love that idea!
 
I love that idea!
I do reckon he will be more left regardless though whether his sympathies would be toward socialism would vary a bit on how his father was ITTL. I also picture that a disappointment with Europe would have embrace the American fairytales of Baum and expand to adapting similar sort of stories throughout it.

I got a potential list of ideas if @PyroTheFox wants to see for it.
 
I do reckon he will be more left regardless though whether his sympathies would be toward socialism would vary a bit on how his father was ITTL. I also picture that a disappointment with Europe would have embrace the American fairytales of Baum and expand to adapting similar sort of stories throughout it.

I got a potential list of ideas if @PyroTheFox wants to see for it.

Sure!
 
Part 7: Chapter XXVII - Page 183 - 1920 RNC II
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President Johnson on the Lake Erie Shore in Cleveland, June 1920 - Source: Wiki Commons

The third day of the Republican Convention coincided with the neighboring premier of Frank Montgomery and Robert Goldstein's latest film: Doughboys, their follow-up to the enormously popular Spirit of '76. The new picture dramatized the early events of the Great War from the perspective of two young Midwestern farmhands (Richard Barthelmess and William Collier, Jr.) caught up in a post-Yellow Rose hysteria and determined to bring honor to their country. Doughboys, like its cinematic predecessor, sufficiently whitewashed its era to better depict American soldiers as the unambiguous heroes, and furthermore included an ahistorical subplot involving a failed attempt by Pvt. Louis Toussaint (W. E. Lawrence) to encourage dissent and rebellion amongst the troops - echoing Francophobic sentiment not uncommon for the time. President Johnson made it a point to attend the film showing and later reported favorably on the project and its writers. Montgomery and Goldstein's work would go on to be the highest grossing film of 1920, overshadowing D.W. Griffith's famed flop Way Down East.

As the convention guests sung along to George M. Cohan's You're A Grand Old Flag following an opening prayer and the ceremonial reciting of the national anthem, Johnson Campaign engineers and friendly associates to Secretary Lodge and former Governor Stephens hustled to keep a majority of the delegates under their thumbs. Lodge, ever the peacekeeper, sensed some resentment from the conservative faction after the passage of the fusion resolution and consciously looked to keep them in-check to avoid any unexpected disturbances. Knowing the long history of Republican conventions and their unpredictable nature, Lodge and others kept their ears to the ground.

The Harding faction, their chance slipping away, feverishly assembled some last-minute help from the lesser Republican candidates with bound support. They worked to persuade them to support Harding as a conservative alternative for Johnson in the event of a second ballot. They promised it all; Executive appointments, extended campaign stops, luxury banquets. Among their targets, Governor Frank Lowden of Illinois was particularly notable. Lowden actively supported and campaigned on behalf of Theodore Roosevelt whilst condemning oligarchical trusts, but he was the poster child for anti-socialist fear mongering, uplifted the Federal Intelligence Agency as a force for progress, and reportedly urged President Johnson act with more urgency to outlaw the Industrial Workers of the World. He identified as a Progressive, but governed as a Republican. In the 1920 race, Lowden did not endorse, but he did send deputies to the Republican convention to monitor the festivities and report back to the governor. Of all sitting Progressive officeholders, the Illinois governor was the likeliest to stray from the path and endorse a challenger to the nomination.

Lodge and Stephens caught wind of this plan early on, and fastidiously campaigned to stop the Harding camp from unraveling their work. In a private conversation which eventually leaked to the press in the form of "convention gossip," members of the Johnson Campaign managed to win over the undisputed King of the Pennsylvania Republican Party: Senator Philander C. Knox. Regardless of the latter's unfortunate showing as a presidential candidate twelve years previously, the 67-year-old retained tremendous influence within the party, notably among Old Guard conservatives. Johnson wholeheartedly respected Knox and coveted his endorsement, and unlike Harding who felt owed a favor upon delivering Knox's official nominating speech in 1908, the incumbent president retained a strong, personal friendship with the Pennsylvania senator outside of politics. Knox pledged loyalty to the president on June 9th and kick-started a new focal point for the press. Some whispers of a vice presidential offer even slipped into The Plain Dealer, but it is uncertain if that was ever truly on the table. Yet, one thing is for certain. Rumors swirling of a Johnson/Knox ticket generated much speculation and publicity.

This development served to benefit Johnson's odds of capturing the nomination early, but perhaps what sealed the deal were two significant speeches presented on the day of the scheduled balloting. First was the sitting mayor of New York, John P. Mitchel. Mitchel, a nondescript Republican-Progressive, was one of the country's longest serving consecutive mayors, taking office since the retirement of Ed Shepard in 1909 and knee-deep in his third and final term. His speech brought to light the exceptional role of the New York Police Department in containing the tumultuous 1917 Food Riot in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and assigned blame to the New York Socialists as the party responsible for inciting street riots. He went on to briefly explain his experiences during the 1917 mayoral election and the narrow victory over Morris Hillquit, again emphasizing the strength of everyday New Yorkers in quelling the city's worst instincts. "When prices rose, the Bolshevists attempted armed insurrection. When rebellion failed, the inept radicals tried to have a blue-blooded Bolshevik elected mayor. That too was unsuccessful. Now we are returned to rebellion. Failure, disorder, and destruction, that is their record."

In addition to Mitchel, General Leonard Wood testified to the necessity of nominating Johnson for the sake of curbing the existential, left-wing threat. Knowing a chief sticking point of the standpat Republicans in promoting Johnson revolved around internationalism, Wood moreover spoke on behalf of the administration's foreign policy and their doctrine of 'isolation wherever possible.' "Albert Beveridge shared an appreciation for the United States on the global stage to a reasonable extent," he argued. The U.S. won in its quest for equal treatment in commerce and overseas investment. Simplistic isolationism was impractical as long as the country claimed ownership of its Pacific holdings and loaned billions to the Central Empires. In bridging Johnson's proposed loose association with the European Zollverein to the the rise of a prosperous American Empire and the limitless expansion of her spheres of influence, and furthermore describing somewhat complex geopolitical concepts in a manner easily digestible by the convention delegates, Wood easily captivated the crowd.

Once the time arrived for the balloting procedure, it became evident that the Harding camp and his allies on the convention floor were simply outmatched. Far and away, Johnson was the favorite, and little could be done to prevent an historical inevitability.


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That was that. Conservative outrage was genuine, but despite some expectations to the contrary, there were no walkouts and not one man bolted from the convention hall. Harding was bested, and he had no choice but to accept the rejuvenated mold of the Republican Party - or at least, what was once the Republican Party. President Johnson himself arrived in Cleveland on the evening of June 9th to catch the film premier and, afterwards, oversee the RNC. Courtesy of the extraordinarily intense security protocols and a heavy police presence on-site (a sensible reaction to the catastrophe at the Socialist Convention), he felt safe enough to walk down from an upper chamber in McKinley Hall to personally deliver an acceptance speech for the nomination. The address delivered by the president would permanently alter the Republican Party and, in the eyes of historians like Jay Morgan who chose to conclude The American Elephant with a detailed summary of Johnson's speech, end that political organization as contemporaries knew it.

This is an historic day. As the United States steps foot into a bright new decade, she will be led by a party, and a people, united at last. President Beveridge once said that the opposition confronted every onward movement of the Republic from its opening hour and never achieved success. He affirmed we are traversing the course our grandfathers blazed. They triumphed in the Revolution to throw off the shackles of indentured servitude to Great Britain, they triumphed twenty years ago to build our expansion economy of the Pacific and the Orient, and now must be our time for triumph. American prosperity in the twentieth century cannot be stopped, and those who wish us ill will meet the same fate of the loyalists and the pacifists.
There is no separation of ideals. They are one in the same. The National Ideal and the Party of One Nation unites us all. Loyalty to one's country, above all and indivisible. Intervention when necessary. Peace and order over chaos and anarchism. Government for and by the people. One man, one vote. It is these principles which stimulates the judgments and arouses the enthusiasm of Americans. We need not stray from this path to greet the new day. Centralization of the legislature and the courts risk imbalance, and in the pursuit of securing liberty above despotism I recognize the need to place power in the hands of the people. If we can give to the people the means by which they may accomplish such other reforms as they desire, then all that lies in our power will have been done in the direction of safeguarding the future and for the perpetuation of the theory upon which we ourselves shall conduct this government.
We know with certainty the danger posed to American liberty and democracy by the mad tide of Bolshevism infesting our trade unions and jeopardizing the integrity of our city governments, but a thought must be spared for the equally reprehensible scourge of racial extremism. Despite the demagogues, the idea of our oneness as Americans has risen superior to every appeal to mere class and group, and so I wish it might be in this matter of our national problem of races. A high-grade colored soldier told me that the war brought his race the first real conception of citizenship. The first full realization that the flag was their flag, to fight for, to be protected by them, and also to protect them. He was sure that the opportunity to learn what patriotism meant was a real opportunity for his race. These things lead one to hope that we shall find an adjustment of relations between the two races, in which both can enjoy full citizenship and the full measure of usefulness to the country and of opportunity for themselves.
We proudly claim victory in the war against the infernal Serbian-born illness, and men and women of all corners of respectable politics did their duty to make it so. [...] We face the onset of a second plague, one whose eradication must also be achieved by communities working in tandem with state and federal ordinances. I speak of rampant sedition, an alarming disease most lethal to the maintenance and preservation of our National Ideal. The Attorney General of the United States and the Department of Justice is committed to uprooting treason and purging lawlessness in all forms and wherever it hides. The Federal Intelligence Authority is our greatest asset in achieving these ends, and as I speak men are hard at work investigating criminal networks in our largest cities and corruption in the courts. Attorney General Palmer and I are proud of the work we have done in reducing the rate of crime and curbing anarchist outbursts left unchecked since the close of the war. By presidential order, my administration has made it so all persons selected for employment by the federal government must demonstrate their complete and unwavering loyalty to the United States. I urge all private enterprises to do the same.
Hiram W. Johnson, Republican Convention Acceptance Speech, Excerpt, June 10th, 1920
 
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Here you are, a list of potential Disney films made! It comes from an old idea I shelved, but you may like it still! I imagine some are a bit more unlikely than others, but alot of them do come from sources I think would still be viable at the time! Feel free to shift the order around. I imagine the Oz series wouldn't be made for numerous reasons until way later.

Before becoming the famous animation icon, Walter Elias Disney began working under L Frank Baum after he headed to California in 1917 during some hard times his family was experiencing back home. The two creative minds struck a fast and deep friendship, with Walt viewing Baum as a mentor, both professionally and personally. Walt was enchanted by the American fairytales that Baum made, noting how all the stories Baum wrote were uniquely American and would provide a unique legacy to the nation in the same way Europe's great works and fairy tales left for it. This would continue in his adulthood where Disney would read the stories to his daughters. Additionally, Disney would began one of the big supporters of feminism as a result, especially wanting his daughters to have the opportunities has wife and mother did not have and he remained close to Baum's widow, Maud Gage Baum. After going into animation, Disney would make plenty of short films and animations inspired by Baum along with his own works, such as that of Mickey Mouse.

Disney's The Master Key (1937)
Disney’s first ever film and the first full-length cel-animated feature film, it was based off of the story with the same name. In the same way, Baum dedicated the story to his son, Disney dedicated this first film to his nephew. While originally meant to be another short, Disney wanted to push things to the limit and bring a feel-good story to the masses during the Depression. On a more pragmatic note, it was also done as a test-run for his plan for full-length animated films. It was a rousing success. While viewed as a modest if nice work in present times, audiences were astounded by the story of a young boy discovering the marvels of electricity through science while also providing an aesop on responsibility.

Disney’s Enchanted Island of Yew (1939)
Disney’s second full-length animated feature film, it is based off of the book of the same name.

Disney’s Fantasia (1940)
Disney’s third full-length animated feature film, it was his passion project during the previous films, combining intense and vibrant music with gorgeous animation, it was seen as a milestone with what animation could really do as a medium and inspired many other artists. Indeed, Disney noted that he wanted spectacular films like these to keep being made, showing this would not be the last time Fantasia would be made.

Disney’s Dumbo (1941)
Disney’s fourth full-length animated feature film, it was based off of the story of the same name.

Disney’s Animal Tales (1943)
Disney’s fourth full-length animated feature film, it’s an adaption of Baum’s Animal Fairy Tales, adapted into one overarching tale to share meaningful stories to children and provide of a basis for American folklore

Disney's The Daring Twins (1944)
Disney’s fifth full-length animated feature film, it is an adaptation of two books, The Daring Twins & its sequel, Phoebe Daring. It focuses on the exploit of Phoebe Daring trying to clear up her twin brother’s name after he was falsely accused of a crime. Because both stories were relatively similar, elements of both were combined, with the two crimes becoming a connected one.

Disney's The Flying Girl (1945)
Disney’s sixth full-length animated feature film, it’s an adaption of the story Flying Girl & its sequel, written by Edith Van Dyne (a pseudonym of Baum). It has Orissa Kane learning to become a pilot, flying her brother’s plane and becoming a woman in her own right, despite the backlash of her peers. Disney said he chose this and the prior film for his daughters, to inspire this. Indeed, Disney got a lot of praise in regards in portraying women in stronger roles.

Disney’s Three Caballeros (1947)
Disney’s seventh full-length animated feature film and introducing Donald and the Caballeroes

Disney’s The Life & Times of Santa Claus (1948)
Disney’s eighth full-length animated feature film, it is based off of the book of the same name. Would be expanded upon and would get some funding help from Coca-Cola because of shaping the image.

Disney’s Zixi, Queen of Ix (1950)
Disney’s ninth full-length animated feature film, it was based off of the Baum story with the same name. This one dedicated to his daughters, this was intended to be the first film Disney would’ve made, but chose The Master Key as a more safe bet while also giving him more time to to perfect his work. Indeed, Zixi, Queen of Ix became an even greater success due to the leaps and bounds of progress made in animation by that point.

Disney’s Trot and the Sea of Fairies (1951)
Disney’s tenth full-length animated featured film, it’s an adaptation of the story The Sea of Fairies by Baum. The story has the female protagonist Mayre “Trot” Griffiths and her friend, Cap’n Bill Wheedles, a retired skipper of her dad’s ship encounter a mermaid and explore the underwater world while dealing with the villainous Zog, a vile magician.

Disney’s Trot and the Sky Island (1953)
Disney’s eleventh full-length animated featured film, it’s an adaptation to the story Sky Island, and a sequel to Sea of Fairies. Unlike in the original book though, Disney made some various changes to the story so it would fit better while also separate it from Oz canon. Button Bright is replaced by Barry Bright, a young man who traveled to California on his Magic Umbrella. The three take an adventure to a mysterious island in the sky and have to solve the crisis of the passive Pinks and belligerent Blues.

Disney’s Lady and the Tramp (1955)
Disney’s twelfth full-length animated feature film, it’s based off of the Cosmopolitan short story Happy Dan, the Cynical Dog by Ward Greene

Disney’s Prince Silverwings (1959)
Disney's thirteenth full-length animated featured film, it was the result of Walt Disney collaborating with Edith Ogden Harrison. Originally planned as a musical back when Baum was still alive, Disney found out about the idea and resurrected it for the animated film and became the first real example of Disney films gaining many songs. The film was a very popular success and Harrison used much of the money she got to establish her children’s theater, which still stands today as the Edith Harrison Theatre, where many plays, musicals and animated films are shown for all ages.

Disney's The Son of the Stars (1961)
Disney's fourteenth animated feature film, part of the Winston Science Fiction series, published by the John C Winston company. Disney purchased the copyrights for three of the books so Disney could adapt them into films, namely so they capitalize on the "Space Race" that was going on and the urge to explore the stars. Like the previous film, chracter design was broadened, with the inclusion of the protagonist, Ron Barron, being mixed-race once more and going further beyond with him dating interacially with Anne Martin who gets a slightly larger role.

Disney's The Planet of Light (1963)
Disney's fifteenth animated feature film, it's a sequel to The Son of the Stars, and the last of the adaptations as a result of the deals made with WSF with their books. Here, Anne Martin is shifted further in importance, being about equal status to Ron and the other characters.

Disney's The Rocket Rider (1967)
Disney's sixteenth film, animated feature film, the Rocket Rider is based on the book Rocket Jockey. Furthermore, Disney began doing more in experimenting with adaptation, with giving the character differing personalities and shifting importances and priorities.

Disney’s The Moon Maiden (1970)
Disney’s seventeenth animated feature film, it’s based off of the science fiction story of the same name by Garrett Serviss. Disney purchased the copyright to the books as part of some sort of secret project. Another more adventurous film, it teases the idea of aliens helping humanity in their development at the center of a love story, which was simplified over for the film adaptation. Also done to celebrate the US on the moon.

Disney’s The Tales of Twinkle (1973)
Disney's eighteenth full-length animated featured film, it’s an adaptation of the Twinkle Tales by Laura Bancroft (another Baum pseudonym). However, the different short stories are instead turned int o one story of the adventures of Twinkle and her friend Chubbins in a mysterious land of talking animals. Much like Sky Island, Disney included some subtle social commentary, namely through the antagonistic Jim Crow, a white crow who antagonizes the other birds and steals from their hard work, a jab at the cruelty Afro-Americans were suffering from the Jim Crow laws meant to empower whites.

Disney’s Officer Bluejay (1975)
Disney’s nineteenth full-length animated featured film, it’s an adaptation of the novel Policeman Bluejay and serving as a sequel to Tales of Twinkle. The story focuses on Officer Bluejay, who has to guide Twinkle and Chubbins through the world of birds to restore them to normal. During the exploration, Bluejay also must stop the rooks, who plan on enslaving the other smaller birds, who they unite to stop.

Disney's Elmer and the Dragon (1977)
Disney's twentith animated feature film, it is an adaptation of the trilogy by Ruth Stiles Gannett. Focusing on adventures of Elmer and his dragon, it condenses all three of the stories into one movie while also giving the film elements of a coming-of-age story, revealed at the end when the entire thing is revealed to be a story that Elmer is telling to his son, now as a father.

Disney's Ab the Cave-Boy (1979)
Disney's twenty-first animated feature film, it is based off of the book The Story of Ab by Stanley Waterloo. Serving as a coming-of-age story, the plot revolves around Ab, a young boy becoming a man during the Stone Age while helping to guide his tribe into a new tomorrow, dealing with traditions and other trials. The themes was on that of progress, which Disney held always close while also exploring the roots of humanity back those millennia ago. One of the few films that Disney owns the original story rights too.

Disney's The Sky Pirate (1981)
Disney’s twenty-second animated feature film, it’s based on the science fiction story of the same name by Garrett Serviss. Disney actually purchased the rights to the story among with that of a few others. The story tells of the sky pirate Alfonso Payton and his dastardly kidnapping. One of the most adventurous Disney films, it would become one of the first examples of what would later be called “diesalpunk.”


Disney's The White Deer (1984)
Disney's twenty-third animated feature film, it was based on the book of the same name by James Thurber. Walt ended up befriending Thurber in their later years and the former had great respect to the latter because of his fairy-tales. In fact, they made a deal to have some of Thurber’s books being adopted into Disney films.Through as part of the arrangement, his daughter Rosemary Thurber gave the copyright to Disney for the books being made into adaptation to help pay for bills due to financial troubles though Ms Thurber would end up working at Disney. The White Deer would become a colossal box office smash, with the wonderful and eccentric charm and creativity of Thurber being lovingly shown on the great screen.

Disney's The Great Quillow (1986)
Disney's twenty-fourth animated feature film, it was based on the book of the same name.

Disney's The Wonderful O (1987)
Disney's twenty-fifth animated feature film, it was based on the book of the same name.

Disney's The 13 Clocks (1989)
Disney's twenty-sixth animated feature film, it is another adaptation of a James Thurber novel, specifically what many consider to be his best book. As such, The 13 Clocks would go down as one of the greatest Disney films ever made, doing a masterful job of bringing Thurber’s strange and wonderful tale to life on the silver screen.

Disney's The Halloween Tree (1990)
Disney's twenty-seventh animated feature film, an adaptation of the book of the same name.

Disney's The King of the Elves (1991)
Disney's twenty-eigth animated feature film, an adaptation of the story of the same name by Phillip K. Dick.

Disney's The April Witch (1992)
Disney's twenty-ninth animated feature film, an adaptation of the short story of the same name by Ray Bradbury.

Disney's The Moth and the Star (1994)
Disney's thirtith animated feature film, an adaptation of the book of the same name though much more expanded upon.
 
A decent attempt at a fight but it is inevitable. Methinks the Republicans are going to regret this choice very much,
 
Another great update. I admit I had a feeling Johnson was going to be shot at when he made his address but fortunately he didn't. Keep it up. Absolutely love the details included :)
 
A decent attempt at a fight but it is inevitable. Methinks the Republicans are going to regret this choice very much,
Yup, fusion but not quite fusion means all you do is drag down the Progs with you, especially if you're doubling down on reactionary measures without handling the reasons behind why people are flying the Red flag.
 
I hope we get some idea of what rank-and-file Progressives and Republicans are thinking. If I was a member of either party I would be feeling frustrated and betrayed as the party I ideologically align with merges with the party that seems most opposed to its principles, especially on the economy, which was supposed to be their biggest difference.
 
Determined to protect their families and neighborhoods, however, and in a dramatic turnabout from prior riots in Texas and Washington, the black communities of Chicago fought back.
This was a surprise. I'm surprised there were enough gun-owners for that kind of turnabout.
Roosevelt aspired to do just that, yet his body refused. According to notes from the White House medical staff, Roosevelt's agonizing joint discomfort had grown so intense that the leader was nigh hourly downing medicinal painkillers to curb the worst of it. He suffered from endless migraines and tumultuous insomnia, aggravating his temperament and crumbling information retention.
Hmm.

The federal government had condoned all-out barbarism and completely defiled its claim to impartiality.

Which is good, because it means the Presidency loses its public confidence.

The smallest worm will turn being trodden on, And doves will peck in safeguard of their brood.
And if there's anything powerful people don't understand, it's the desperation of the weak.
he Volunteer Ontario Liberation Army mobilized to force total autonomy and the establishment of a free state. Thousands of furious and starving civilians and veterans took part in the four-day street-fighting affair. They briefly captured an impromptu command post in the empty, war-torn Ontario Legislative Building and claimed it as their centerpiece. These revolutionaries lowered the high-flying Stars and Stripes from atop the iron and timber structure and replaced it with a flag colored in crimson. Solidarity, they declared, with the workers of the world. [...] The U.S. Army did not hesitate to suppress the uprising and reacted as fiercely as anticipated. Over 600 were killed. Ten alleged organizers were executed.
If only the Toronto Rebellion occurred a bit earlier and coincided with the US-wide strikes.

Perhaps too bold of a showing in the strikes would have broken the movement more. There's a moral weight to the mass actions that's denied once things boil over into outright rebellion.

I don't think it would have helped.

obstreperous
Learned a new word.

By a count of 11-4, it approved the certification.
Have they no shame?
Sons of Vulcan
I just realized that their initials are literally SOV.
President Johnson's hope that internal divisions and electoral disadvantages, abetted by intensive sabotage and instigating by the FIA, would forever prevent the ascension of socialists to higher office

A sound strategy, but perhaps it's too late to put the cat back in the bag.

Even if national institutions are better suited for a duopoly, I don't think it can be taken for granted that the last generation of voters has gotten accustomed to a splintered ballot.

With that comes a lower bar for legitimacy for a party along with a higher standard for a consensus/mandate.

Even if the coalition does well, they can only stamp out the socialists so far. They're not a one-off curiosity anymore, they've got real deep roots.

Blessed Karl Moment in Austria-Hungary.
The Garden Snake of Europe.

It slithers, but it doesn't bite.
Yeah, I thought a successful German revolution in this TL might have been hoping for too much unfortunately.
Same, but it seems like their hold on the rest of Europe is going to pieces, maybe there'll be a redux.
This is an Ideal Universe in my opinion.
It's better than ours anyway.
gunfire out in Appalachia foreshadowed danger ahead
It's funny how the coal mine states are the country's canary.
Harding easily won over the Ohio delegates following a unanimous vote by the legislature to endorse the senator
It's a strange day when Ohio is one out of step with the moment rather than the other way around, for once.
 
Part 7: Chapter XXVII - Page 184
lafollette.png

Senator Robert M. La Follette Delivering a Speech, June 1920 - Source: Wiki Commons

Two gigantic forces of American politics met finite turning points at the conclusion of the Republican National Convention. Immediately upon Johnson's nomination and his subsequent speech, it was clear that the Republican Party of old was gone and done with. The conservative gambit had failed, and now with the sitting president essentially hoisted as a standard bearer for their political brand, some reporters questioned whether Republican conservatism could ever hope to mount a comeback. Thus began a theoretical massacre at the Republican National Committee as a victorious Brumbaugh cleaned house, forcing the resignations of some key national party figures. Then-National Treasurer Geoffrey Duncan was a vocal endorser of Harding and made several public statements in opposition to the president. Duncan resigned without issue, as did the equally anti-incumbent national secretary. Governor Washington Lindsey (R-NM), a business-oriented conservative and third-place finisher in the presidential balloting, privately let his resentment be known at the outcome of the convention and the pervasiveness of Brumbaugh at the helm, but like Harding he accepted the results and pledged to support the president. By all accounts, the GOP electorate was far more open to the idea of fusion than their officeholding counterparts, evident through the splendid performance of Johnson in the state-by-state primaries. Many in the GOP rank-and-file considered the incumbent a thoroughbred moderate and generally held a positive view of his tenure, with some even commending the administration's position on domestic unrest. All residual Republican outrage was relatively minor compared to the conversation brewing on the opposing end.

Left staggered by the RNC and frustrated by the president's decision to accept Governor Charles E. Hughes of New York as vice president, remnants of the old, somewhat displaced Peace Progressives were undecided how best to move forward. The nationalist breed of Columbians were easily corralled back to the fold per Johnson's direction, but others were not so quick to abandon their tent-pole organization. Among the furthest left in the 1920-era Progressive National Committee, a prevailing argument in opposition to cross-endorsement/fusion tactics alongside the Republican Party was the simple conclusion that doing so threatened their very existence. Even if it presently controlled a greater share of seats in Congress, the Progressives, lacking the guidance of Theodore Roosevelt and suffering from a consistent budgetary disparity to the well-established parties, risked sudden irrelevance if it jumped to amalgamate with the Republicans. If the incumbent were to determine platform differences inconsequential and base his reasoning solely on electoral concerns, what purpose would there be in maintaining a splinter party? That very fear, Johnson prioritizing electoralism over all else, was indeed realized.

Two days after the closing of the Republican convention, President Johnson toppled the next line of dominos. At an impromptu meeting made in preparation of their upcoming national convention scheduled for July 1st, a slim plurality of the PNC voted to cancel the event. Speaking on behalf of the president, Progressive Chairman Jacob Falconer, former Washington representative and co-author of the 1914 Preparedness (Falconer-Colt) Act, argued that holding a ceremonial nominating convention to promote Johnson was redundant now that the Republicans took the liberty of doing so themselves. He controversially applauded the ethereal notion of the, "Party of One Nation," a phrase coined by the president in reference to combining the two strains of Republicanism. Of course, this decision flew in the face of everything built up by the late Theodore Roosevelt, but most of the state-assigned delegates concurred with the proposal and quietly allowed the PNC to pass the soul-less measure, thus sidestepping the need for additional debate on the Lodge Resolution, finalizing the milquetoast party platform, and officially pronouncing the nominations of Hiram Johnson and Charles Hughes. No discussion, no debate, and no opportunity for the Progressive Left to voice their objections. For the overruled Columbian faction, this indignity was a step too far.


Back in 1916, the presidential candidacy of Emil Seidel caught the attention of scores of disaffected, working-class Progressive voters, enough so to play competitively in the Midwest and some mid-Atlantic states. The old Columbian base, chiefly middle-class business owners, attorneys, reform advocates, and certain social activists, held together regardless for the entirety of the Roosevelt presidency. However, as previously noted in discussing pre-convention polling, Hiram Johnson's dubious decision making throughout his short presidency gradually chipped away at the old voting bloc as reform-minded voters drifted to other tendencies. If one cared for the type of systemic change once proudly embraced by the original class of Chicago Progressives or raised eyebrows at the news of police gunning down striking workers in the streets, one could not, in good faith, remain affiliated with the Columbians. Pressing further, Johnson's choice to, for all intents and purposes, abandon the basis of progressivism to remake the GOP in his image, may have been the final straw. Thousands voiced their displeasure to their local Progressive leaders and state chairpersons, and thousands more mailed letters pleading with the PNC to reconsider. Some detractors viewed fusion as a tool by the wealthy elite to kill reformist legislation, others fretted over the Republicans' stance on internationalism versus isolationism. Even Charles Bryan's The Commoner printed an editorial on the subject, one which shared the outrage of the Progressive Left. "The numbers were small at first," it read, "but that hornet's nest will not stop buzzing."

Among those registered Columbians who publicly denounced the PNC vote were pacifist Jane Addams, former Progressive Chairman Craig W. Wadsworth, widow Helen Newell Garfield, journalist Lincoln Steffens, former New Jersey Senator Franklin Murphy, and, rather significantly, sitting Deputy Secretary of Social Welfare Herbert Hoover. Having been assigned to his post by President Roosevelt at the insistence of Secretary William Wilson, Hoover was instructed to co-direct all health and social services for returning war veterans. Hoover was also known and celebrated for his oversight of hunger relief programs at the Northern Front, and during the Vienna Conference was an avid advocate for servicing the food and medical needs of the Canadian population in occupied Ontario. He never quite found his footing once Johnson took over and was oftentimes blackballed; barred from all foreign policy meetings, denied the chance to convince the new president to draw down U.S. soldiers from Canada. Once the fusion issue arose, Hoover suspected that Johnson would abandon his inconvenient, nagging Progressive colleagues in favor of mindless yes-men and reckless demagogues like Attorney General Palmer (whom he greatly despised). The GOP was not about to challenge the administration for its atrocities in Toronto and elsewhere. Unlike Hoover who believed it crucial to build an alliance with a democratized, reconstructed Canada, Johnson and his GOP cohorts seemed uninterested in abandoning their lucrative Toronto holding.

Hoover departed the White House as realization struck, and the popular public official relegated himself to stay out of the 1920 race without issuing an endorsement. In the same vein, a second, hugely influential Progressive figure called out President Johnson for sacrificing the core tenants of their party: Mr. Progressive himself, Senator Robert M. La Follette. The Wisconsinite positioned himself on the left-wing of the Senate and the party leadership from the very beginning, when he declared Roosevelt the rightful heir of Albert Beveridge and paved the way for political independence. He was the first senator to bravely toss aside affiliation with the Republican Party, and one of the few Progressives in Congress to combat the sitting president on matters of war and conscription. La Follette was frequently at odds with his own party, most notably whilst spearheading the dying isolationist trend but too in opposing Palmer's vicious Red Scare operation, and for this it was cardinal knowledge that his tenure as Senate Conference Chairman would end in 1921 regardless of the congressional results. The rise of corporate-friendly, nationalist Progressives gravely threatened La Follette's standing in the leadership, and undoubtedly, his successor would receive unanimous support from Republicans and Progressives alike. Therefore, the senator found no reason to hold back.

Right when Deputy Secretary Hoover was submitting his resignation papers and fellow Peace Progressives scrambled to convince Chairman Falconer to change his mind, Senator La Follette was putting the finishing touches on a speech he intended to deliver to a vast audience in Madison. Albeit humorless in his speaking prose and susceptible to loading his words down with specific facts and arguments, "Fighting Bob" nevertheless hoped to excite his crowd and call them to action. Upon taking the stage, he railed against President Johnson's needlessly aggressive foreign and domestic policies, exclaiming, "No man can beat the life from a social movement with brute force." He beckoned to the careers of Abraham Lincoln and Charles Sumner, "great men," who protected the rights of American citizens to criticize war and the government's carrying out of said war, and contrasted their ethos with Johnson's despotic cracking down on the rights to free expression and assembly. He warned that the administration now targeted the court system and planned to do away with the separation of powers if left unchecked. It was not an impossible scenario, he presumed, especially with two major parties at his side. "The Constitution means to guard us against these great abuses. Influencing the composition of the court sets a perilous precedent," just as the Justice Department did by seeking to prosecute peace advocates and union organizers. La Follette brought the argument to its core and implored his listeners to vote against a second term for Johnson, and instead support the only viable alternative as he saw it. To fight the forces of reaction, one must support the "coalition of farmers and laborers," and move as one with the masses. "Progress is impossible unless we oppose the fixers, and marry ourselves to the cause of industrial democracy." Robert La Follette had made up his mind, and Seymour Stedman gained a new ally in his quest to turn the White House red.
 
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And there it is! The break! La Foliette has turned his eyes to Stedman, now the tearing apart of the party can begin! I can't wait, this is going to be so bloody!
 
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